Select Art Exhibitions: Highlights for Coming Months

This post simply highlights a few of the current and upcoming African American art exhibitions that have been planned for the next coming months. Although it is not comprehensive in scope, it does present the quality, depth, and diversity of exhibitions that are on the scene. For a more comprehensive national view of exhibitions on view, see the right sidebar, Select Art Exhibitions in 2011; that list includes over 30 exhibitions with an African American focus. Bear in mind that the exhibitions listed in the right sidebar are updated on a regular basis by either removing those that have ended or adding new ones as they are identified. As a follower, you are invited to recommend exhibitions that you are aware of that are not included on either of these lists.

Atlanta, Georgia  

Auburn Avenue Research Library on

African American Culture and History (AARL)

Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History (AARL) is a special library of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. AARL presents Charting the Course: African American Achievers in the 20th Century, a photographic exhibit featuring the work of donor and photographer, Raymond Wilson.  Mr. Wilson is a Washington, DC native and retired military officer who donated his collection to AARL. His clients have included the following: National Association for Equal Opportunity in Education, National Urban League, Congressional Black Caucus, and the Executive Leadership Council.   

Charting the Course is on view through June 24, 2011 at the Cary-McPheeters Gallery of AARL. An opening event is scheduled for Saturday, May 21, 2011 (4:00 - 6:00 pm) and will include a conversation between Raymond Wilson; Sheila Turner, curator of the exhibition; and guest photographers, Doris Derby and Jim Alexander. The Library is located at 101 Auburn Avenue; for additional information call AARL at 404/ 730-4001, ext. 100 or see events.

Baltimore, Maryland
Galerie Myrtis: Contemporary Fine Art Gallery

Abstraction: The Syncopation of Light, Color and Form, an exhibition, is on view at Galerie Myrtis through August 13, 2011. Drawing from their intuitions and imaginations, the six artists featured in Abstraction "form rhythmic patterns employing light and color to explore social issues, and the metaphysical and spiritual realm." For related activities and to view works form the six artists featured in the exhibition, visit the Gallery.

Jeffrey Kent, HeLa #34 Progression,
Acrylic on canvas

Jeffrey Kent, one of the featured artists, states "the idea for his series of paintings was sparked by the history of Henrietta Lacks and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. I was drawn to this story because of the parallel between her cells and the legacy of artists: just as HeLa cells have lived outside their original source for so long, artwork lives on long after the artist’s death." 

Chicago, Illinois
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Mark Bradford, Scorched Earth, 2006
Collection of Dennis and Debra Scholl,
Photo: Bruce M. White



The exhibition, Mark Bradford, will be on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago through September 18, 2011. Organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, "This exhibition is the first survey of the artist's work to date. Spanning the years 2001 to 2010, it examines Bradford's work in all media, beginning with early sculptural projects, and culminating in a number of new commissions."

Admission is free for MCA members; there is a $20.00 fee for nonmembers. For further information and related programs, visit: MCA. A catalogue accompanies this exhibition. 

Greensboro, North Carolina
Weatherspoon Art Museum

Kara Walker, Savant, 2010, Etching
 with aquatint, sugar-lift, spit-bite
and dry-point, 27" x 17"

Weatherspoon Art Museum presents Race and Representation: The African American Presence in American Art in its Gregory D. Ivy Gallery on August 20 - November 20, 2011. To express its theme, artworks in Race and Representation have been drawn from the Weatherspoon’s permanent collection, and they represent different media and time periods. The featured artwork "will explore and affirm the fundamental interconnection of the African American presence in American visual culture."

 

The exhibition is organized around the recent acquisition of two works by eminent, contemporary artists Kara Walker and Leonardo Drew. "In the contrasting languages of figuration and abstraction, both artists speak to an understanding of the world forged by an African American identity and heritage. Complementing Walker’s An Unpeopled Land in Unchartered Waters (2010, edition 5/30) and Drew’s Number 119D (2009) is a range of works from the museum’s permanent collection that provides a broad cultural landscape within which to gauge Walker and Drew’s achievements."

For further information, call336/ 334-5770 or visit Weatherspoon.

New York, New York

June Kelly Gallery

James Little: Ex Pluribus Unum, an exhibition of new abstract paintings, consisting of "large, horizontal canvases covered with narrow vertical bands in a variety of geometric configurations and in unusual but harmonious combinations of brilliant color" will be on view at June Kelly Gallery through June 21, 2011. 

James Little, Difference between Then and Now,
2010, Oil and wax on canvas, 72" x 94"

Mario Naves, the art writer, has written an essay in the exhibition's invitation. To read excerpts from that essay and to view more images, see: Ex Pluribus Unum. 

June Kelly Gallery is located at 166 Mercer Street (between Houston and Prince Streets). For further information, call 212/ 226-1660 or visit the Gallery.

  

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sande Webster Gallery



Anthony Liggins, Purple Haze, Mixed media on canvas,
36" x 36", 2011



Sande Webster Gallery currently has two exhibitions, Anthony Liggins: While We Sleep the Sky Dances in the Main Gallery and Alonzo Davis: It's About the Climb in the Salon Gallery, on view through June 25, 2011.

Anthony Liggins' journey "continues to take people on a visual expression through art. I love to captivate, motivate, and inspire others. One transcends through a spiritual oasis in time through color, technique, and stimulating visuals." To read more, see Liggins.   

The works featured by Alonzo Davis are from two series, Passageways and Sky Ladders. The following description of each series is in the words of the artist.

The Passageways series grew out of Davis' fascination by the "carved doors of the Dogon people of Mali." According to the artist, "My doors...are painted and embellished with fetishes or found objects rather than carved. Each door is framed with lengths of bamboo."

Sky Ladders represent the artist's "goal-oriented approach to life," and first appeared in a scroll-like painting he did in 1984. Over time, Davis learned that "the ladder had symbolic significance in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, India, Oceania, and pre-Columbia. It can represent transcendence, union between heaven and earth, and ancestral reunion." 

For additional information, visit the Gallery. 

Roseville, California

22 South Grant Street Gallery

Milton 510 Bowens,
Afro-classical series (John Coltrane),
Mixed media



22 South Grant Street Gallery presents Milton 510 Bowens: The Time Harlem Came to Roseville from June 4 - 30, 2011. This solo, contemporary fine art exhibition will feature new original paintings from Bowens' "Afro-classical volume 3 collection." In addition to the visual arts, this exhibition will highlight poetry and music. 

Accompanying programs follow: 

• Special Collector's Champagne Reception with the artist on June 4, 2011 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm.  
• Gallery grand opening reception celebration with live bee-bop and swing music, featuring live poetry recitals on June 11, 2011.
• Artist Talk featuring Milton Bowens: "Harlem's Influence and Impact on the Arts" on June 18, 2011. A special silent auction will be held during this event.

For more information, contact Kevin L. Santos-Coy at 916/ 613-4244 or via email at KLSCSTUDIO@yahoo.com.

Washington, DC

International Visions Gallery

International Visions Gallery presents Preston Sampson: Common Threads from June 9 - July 23, 2011. Sampson describes Common Threads as “a body of work that is about the universal dialogue of relationships, strength, dignity and aspirations of people to live, love and learn.” Central to this exhibit is selections from the ongoing Working Man series, which gives homage to the “blue collar hard working man who is the underpinning of all of our effete cosmopolitan yearnings.”

Preston Sampson,
Working Man 1, Mixed media,
24" x 36" 

Drawing inspiration from past work, Sampson explores new techniques of mixed media compositions with textiles and pulp painting. “My time working alongside a quilter on a project prompted me to more aggressively dig into textiles and patterns. My love of portraiture ...evolved into merging textiles with them to create the Working Man series, which finds itself a continuation of thematic constant in my work.”

For additional information, contact Tim Davis at 202/ 234-5112. Visit International Visions at the Gallery.

Black Art Project (BAP) Booklist 3

This third list, in a continuing series, highlights recently published books that have an African American art focus. As stated in earlier releases, June 9, 2010 and September 24, 2010, identifying titles as they are recently published or in pre-publication status is crucial for those building a library that has some focus on African American art because of the small print runs in which these titles are published. With this publishing trend in mind, it is advisable to purchase them shortly after they have been published to assure yourself that the titles that you are interested in have not gone out of print. When a title does go out of print, the secondary market becomes a viable option; however, you must then weigh cost and condition differences among the few dealers that may have a copy for sale. 

The following post and the addendum of recent publications are simply a few  new titles that have been released since the last Booklist:   

• Clearwater, Bonnie. Shinique Smith: Menagerie. North Miami, Florida: Museum of Contemporary Art and Madison, Wisconsin: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 2010.

This is a catalogue for Shinique Smith: Menagerie, an exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami from September 16 -November 19, 2010, and at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, January 22 - May 8, 2011.  The exhibition was made possible by the MOCA Knight Exhibition Endowment. In her first large-scale museum exhibition, multimedia artist Shinique Smith "builds on previous museum installations to present a major exhibition that includes works on paper, paintings, and three-dimensional works from the breadth of her career."

• Color Exploration: Simplicity in the Art of McArthur Binion. Adelphi, Maryland: University of Maryland University College, 2010.

This exhibition catalogue that accompanied the exhibition, Color Exploration in the Art of McArthur Binion, illustrates the artist's quest to make his medium a recognizable art form. As it relates to an art movement defining the artist's work, Binion states "The movement where art historians would classify my work would be abstract expressionism. However, I don't think that is the movement for me. For me, the movement has not been named."

Binion use of crayons grew from his desire to break tradition; it became important to him to do something different. Hear his full story in the insightful conversation between the artist, McArthur Binion and Eric Key, the Director of the Arts Program, University of Maryland University College in the exhibition catalogue. Included in the 24-page catalogue is an Exhibition Checklist, as well as approximately 29 selected color plate images of art included in the exhibition. 

See Art images from the exhibition and catalogue that appear in Color Exploration in the Art of McArthur Binion. For more information on acquiring the catalogue, please call: 301-985-7937.

• Lewis, Sarah E. Romare Bearden: Idea to Realization. New York: D C Moore Gallery, 2011.

The catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition, Romare Bearden: Idea to Realization, which was on view at the D C Moore Gallery from February 3 - March 12, 2011. The exhibition featured a rare and vibrant group of maquettes for murals, mosaics, book jackets, and other projects. Most of them were presented for the first time. Ralph Sessions' discussion of the maquettes that blend paint, abstracted cut-paper elements, and photographic images in the customary Bearden style is accompanied with images.  

Romare Bearden, Bessie, Duke, and Louis, c .1981,
Collage on fiberboard, 12¼" x 43"

The front cover of the exhibition catalogue features the right corner  image of Louis Armstrong that appears in the "Bessie, Duke, and Louis" collage; the back cover features the image of Bessie Smith. The full collage is featured as a foldout inside the catalogue.     

• Protégé: Sam Gilliam and Kevin Cole. Charlotte, North Carolina: Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, 2010.                                                                                                              
  This exhibition catalogue, consisting of 40 pages, highlights the works of the two featured artists, capturing their creative spirit and artistic relationship both as individuals and collaborators. The works featured not only celebrate the relationship of mentor and protégé, but demonstrates the importance of the mentoring process for both individuals. The catalogue includes color illustrations throughout, as well as sections devoted to Plates and the Exhibition Checklist.
  
  To secure a copy of this title, contact the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art and Culture (Charlotte, North Carolina) inquire at 704/ 547-3700 or by email to info@ganttcenter.org.

Lisa Farrington: Art Historian Talk

Lisa Farrington & African American Women's Art from Lauren Mucciolo on Vimeo.

Black Women Artists        Limited Resources    

Racism and Myths       Visual Stereotypes     

Positive Propaganda      Political Tool

Further Readings:
The Black Arts Movement
The Feminist Movement in Art
Andy Warhol Foundation: Arts Writers...Program (Lisa Farrington, 2009 Grantee for book, Emma Amos: Art as Lagacy)

Select News Announcements, Upcoming Programs and Activities

College Park, Maryland


Joseph Holston, Young Fisherman,
 1989, Etching, 6" x 4½"



The Tenth Annual David C. Driskell Distinguished Lecture in the Visual Arts, featuring Jock Reynolds, will be held at the Driskell Center on Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 6:30 pm. The topic of this year's lecture is "Afro-American Presence in American Art: From the Battle of Bunker Hill to Now." The lecture will follow the opening reception for the exhibition: Limited Editions: Joseph Holston Prints, 1974 - 2010, A Retrospective at the Driskell Center's Gallery from 5 - 6:30 pm. The exhibition will be on view through June 17, 2011.

The David C. Driskell Center is located in the Cole Student Activities Building, University of Maryland. For more information, see lecture and exhibition.  

Indianapolis, Indiana

 
Hard Truths: A Forum on Art and the Politics of Difference is sponsored by the Indianapolis Museum of Art as an affiliate program to the current Thornton Dial exhibition on view through September 18, 2011. This one-day public forum, "using the life and art of Thornton Dial as a point of departure, will explore the status of African American artists within the mainstream contemporary art world, an examination that reflects broader social, economic, and political ‘hard truths’ within society at large. It explores the relevance of black creative expression to issues of social justice across racial boundaries."

The forum is scheduled for Friday, April 8, 2011 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Speakers include: Julian Bond, Joanne Cubbs, Theaster Gates, Fred Moten, Franklin Sirmans, and Greg Tate. For more details, see forum.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

The Phillips Museum of Art presents an Artist Forum, As Seen in Print: African American Modernists Consider Their Reception. Professor Kellie Jones of Columbia University will frame this discussion within the context of her landmark scholarship on this topic, and includes a conversation with the following vanguard abstract artists: Ed Clark, Mel Edwards, James Little, Howardena Pindell, Jack Whitten and William T. Williams.  

The Forum is held at Franklin and Marshall College, Stahr Auditorium, Stager Hall on Saturday, April 2, 2011, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Admission is free, but reservations are required. RSVP to: Jessica.jackson@fandm.edu.

Northampton, Massachusetts

Whitfield Lovell

Whitfield Lovell, contemporary artist, will deliver the Eighth Annual Dulcy Blume Miller Lecture in Art on Thursday, March 31 at Smith College (Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall) at 7:00 pm. Lovell, who is known for creating emotionally moving artworks, is a recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a MacArthur Fellowship in 2007. He creates "meticulously-drawn portraits of African-Americans based on vintage photographs, juxtaposing these images with resonant objects." More Than You Know: Works by Whitfield Lovell is on view at the Smith College Museum of Art through May 1, 2011.

"The Miller Lecture in Art and Art History is an endowed program established in memory of Dulcy Blume Miller, class of 1946, that annually brings a leading artist or art historian to campus to give a public lecture and to take part in class sessions." For details, call 413/585-2777.

Washington, DC

 International Visions Gallery presents an artist talk, featuring Stan Squirewell, on Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 2:00 - 5:00 pm. The Gallery's current exhibition, Stan Squirewell: Interconnected is on view through April 23, 2011. In Squirewell's collection of recent work, "the artist explores conditions revolving around the empowered and the powerless: institutions/identity, categories/boundaries, and assimilation/transformation. The very sharpness of digital media amplifies his confrontational imagery."

International Visions Gallery is located at 2629 Connecticut Avenue, NW. For further information, visit The Gallery.



Elders Learning Through the Arts (ELTA) Project presents ELTA-STAR Awards Ceremony on April 27, from 5:30 - 8:30 pm at the Kennedy Recreation Center (1401 7th Street, NW). This ceremony is one of the activities to celebrate the Third Annual ELTA Student-Faculty Exhibition which is on view April 27 - May 2, 2011 at the Kennedy Recreation Center. For further information, contact: 202/ 671-4794.

This project is supported by the D C Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Friends of Kennedy Playground Foundation in partnership with the D C Parks and Recreation, Senior Services Division.  

Seniors Textile Arts Renaissance (STAR) will present a Wearable Art Fashion Show in the Great Hall of the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives (1201 17th Street, NW) on April 14, 2011 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm. This is an affiliate program to STAR's Second Annual Student-Faculty Textile Arts Exhibition which is on view April 14 through May 20, 2011 at the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives.

This project is supported by private donations, a grant from the Friends of Kennedy Foundation, and the D C Department of Parks and Recreation, Senior Services Program. The Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives graciously hosts this event.

Yonkers, New York



Hudson River Museum's Art Talk presents Alona Wilson, in its lecture series, discussing "Interpreting and Preserving African-American Arts" on April 27, 2011 at 6:30 pm. *Alona Wilson is the Curator and Assistant Director of the Amistad Center for Art and Culture, an institution that "owns a vital collection of 7,000 items including art, artifacts and popular culture objects that document the experiences, expressions and history of people of African American heritage." Learn more about The Amistad Center.  *CANCELED


Bartholomew Bland, Hudson River Museum Curator of Exhibitions, will give an illustrated lecture on Chemistry of Color: The Sorgenti Collection of Contemporary African-American Art on April 13, 2011 from 1:30 - 3:00 pm. Chemistry of Color is on view through May 8, 2011.

Swann Galleries: Printed and Manuscript African Americana, Sale 2239

Swann Galleries, 16th annual Printed and Manuscript African Americana sale, consisting of approximately 507 lots, was held on March 10, 2011. The sale was divided into a number of broad subject areas that included the following divisions: Slavery and Abolition; Art; Black Memorabilia; Black Panthers; Business, Civil Rights; Marcus Garvey; Literature and Poetry; Military; Music, Sports, and etc. The success of Sale 2239 can be summed up in the words of Wyatt Houston Day, Swann African Americana specialist, "This is unquestionably the most successful sale of African Americana we have had in 16 years of sales at Swann--for two very important reasons: a diversity of fine, and in many cases unique material, and most important to any auction, a number of very knowledgeable and aggressive bidders, in almost every area."

Items, such as those included in Swann Galleries' Printed and Manuscript African Americana, allow historians and the general public an opportunity to explore and discover documents of the past. These items, including photographs and posters; published and unpublished writings in the form of rare books, correspondence, pamphlets, diaries, brochures, and ephemera; as well as, artifacts or other concrete items, document the cultural heritage of people of African descent. They are crucial pieces that may be used to explain, clarify, and interpret the role of blacks in American and world history.

For years, collectors, bibliophiles, and individuals have played a significant role in the conservation and preservation of papers and other material culture items. The items may be a part of large collections or simply individual pieces, but their existence is a part of history, continually unfolding. As these items are sold, it is hoped that they find homes in institutions of higher education (libraries, repositories, archives, and special collections), historical societies, museums, research organizations, and other cultural agencies, where they might be used by the general public, researchers, scholars, and the like to meaningfully and accurately incorporate the black experience into the larger picture of American and world history. 

Sample items from Charles Harris
Wesley Archive; Sale 2239, Lot 281

 The top lot that sold for $43,200 was Charles Harris Wesley's archive of approximately 35 cartons of material, covering the period from 1927-1982. Wesley was a noted historian, scholar, educator, minister, and writer, a graduate of Fisk University who earned his Masters degree from Yale, his PhD from Harvard, and went on to teach at Howard University among other esteemed institutions. The archive was acquired by an institution.

Father Divine (banner); Sale 2239, Lot 465

The second top lot was a "large handmade banner, 54x53 inches, heavy purple felt with white, quilted letters sewn around an image of a dove on top of the world" associated with Father Divine's International Peace Mission. The banner had a high estimate of $1,000; it greatly surpassed that estimate when it successfully sold for $36,000 to an institution. Father Divine "founded the International Peace Mission movement in 1936, formulated its doctrine, and oversaw its growth from a small and predominantly black congregation into a multiracial and international church." 



Huey P. Newton poster;
Sale 2239, Lot 192

 There was active bidding in the Black Panther section of the auction with a number of items exceeding their high bid, including the Huey Newton poster: "The racist dog policeman must withdraw immediately from our communities" (1968). This classic image depicting Huey P. Newton, Panther Minister of Defense, seated in a large fan-back wicker chair, holding a rifle in one hand and a spear in the other had a high estimate of $2,500. It sold for $19,200, capturing a record price. 

For the full scope of the Printed and Manuscript African Americana sale, see images in the catalogue, and the final prices inclusive of Buyer's Premium at results.    

Richard Mayhew: Artist Talk

The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoDA) in San Francisco hosted an exhibition of paintings by Richard Mayhew. The MoAD exhibit, The Art of Richard Mayhew, ended March 7, 2010. Read more at MoAD.  A catalogue accompanied this exhibition. 



Spiral: Perspectives on an African-American Art Collective, an exhibition currently on view at the Birmingham Museum of Art, features works by Richard Mayhew. This exhibit ends April 17, 2011. See an earlier post: SPIRAL. 

Swann Galleries: African-American Fine Art, Sale 2237

Swann Auction Galleries' recent (February 17, 2011) African-American Fine Art Sale was successful in selling 78% of the 148 lots offered. According to Nigel Freeman, Director of African- American Fine Art at Swann Galleries, "As the art market rebounds, we are seeing a surge in collectors seeking African-American fine art - especially scarce and important works. The sale began with intense competition for 19th century paintings by Duncanson and Porter, and the momentum was sustained all the way to the final section, a celebration of Romare Bearden's centennial year, where two of his collages from the early 1970s sold in the high five figures." Freeman's statement is substantiated by the fact that the top five selling lots were bought by collectors.



Elizabeth Catlett, Untitled (Standing
African-American Woman)
Cast bronze with dark brown patina,
1967, 47" x 20" x 8" (without the
base) 

 The sale's top lot was Elizabeth Catlett's Untitled (Standing Africa-American Woman), a cast bronze sculpture from 1967 that sold for $108,000, which is the highest prize ever for an Elizabeth Catlett bronze sculpture. As stated in the catalogue, "This stunning bronze figure is a wonderful discovery from Mexico--this is the first time this important sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett has been exhibited in the United States. ...This is one of the largest bronze works by the artist that is not a public commission...." More images and discussion.

Vincent Smith, The Voices are Stilled,
Oil on masonite, 1965,

47½” x 45½”

Vincent Smith's The Voices are Stilled (Lot 70) was also an artist record at $21,600. "The Voices Are Stilled is a striking and important early painting by Vincent Smith, and the first significant work by the artist to come to auction. With intense nocturnal colors, Smith captures the light of an evening street populated by his typically quirky and expressive figures. This Brooklyn street scene also includes the small Bedford-Stuyvesant storefront office of the Congress of Racial Equality (or C.O.R.E.)." In the case of both Catlett and Smith, the art works did not reach their high auction estimates of $180,000 and $25,000, respectively. It is hoped that with continued exposure and knowledge of the value and importance of these works by African American artists that the auction prices will consistently approach or toppled the upper estimates. 

In addition to Catlett's Standing African-American Woman bronze sculpture, the top five lots included these four additional pieces: Romare Bearden's Tidings, a circa 1973 collage, $96.000; Le Balayeur, a 1958 oil on canvas by Beauford Delaney that also sold for $96,000; Bearden's The Stubborn Old Lady, a 1971 collage, $72,000; and Robert Scott Duncanson's Untitled (Landscape), a circa 1860-1865 oil on board, $45,600. Bearden's Tidings and Duncanson's Landscape both exceeded their high estimates. The prices quoted are inclusive of Buyer's Premium.